Su alcuni graffiti cristiani scoperti nella cappella bizantina delle Beatitudini a Tabgha

Abstract

This article focuses on some Greek graffiti discovered on the Northern wall of the byzantine Chapel of Beatitudes at Tabgha used in the late antiquity to commemorate the Sermon of the Mount (Mt 5:1-12). During the ancient restoration of the monument, the palimpsests were covered by a layer of liquid whitewash. As a result, during the 1935 archaeological excavations carried out by B. Bagatti, they were not visible. The Christian character of the inscription is undoubtable, as testified by the abbreviation of the invocation Kyrie Christe, and by the considerable number of crosses also engraved in the plaster by ancient pilgrims. Due to the poor state of preservation, the authors offer some interpretations for the other recognizable letters - apparently in capital Greek - on the base of the published epigraphic repertoires for the Near East. These findings add new elements for the interpretation of the place as the sanctuary mentioned by Egeria in her Travel Diary and for the identification of the venerated grotto inside the precinct. Based on the location of the graffiti, the authors recognize in the quadrangular annex (mt. 3,20 × 3,20) opened in the northern side of the chapel and connected with it, the cave (specula or spelunca) mentioned by the late Forth Century A.D. pilgrim. This locus seems to match adequately the liturgical needs of the numerous travellers who visited the Western coast of the Sea of Galilee. Original sketches and photos, new maps and sections contribute to illustrating the monument for which the Custody of the Holy Land started a project of restoration.